To: letters@guardian.co.uk
Re: In defence of the taboo against
inter-racial marriage (in response to The Last Taboo broadcast
on BBC Radio 4, 12 June 06)
Date: Monday, 5 June
06

I
reject the assumption made in the
broadcast that all objections to mixed-race
marriage are rooted in outdated attitudes, bigotry or
down-right racism.

Most human diversity
(racial, cultural and linguistic) are the result of human
populations in the past having been isolated. Modern
transportation and mass migration have removed the
geographical barriers; removing the taboo of inter-racial
and inter-cultural marriage will have the effect of
destroying the very diversity that the proponents of multi-racial/multi-cultural society are so
fond of extolling.

A certain amount of
racial and cultural mixing increases human diversity, for
sure, and we are the richer for it, but if they become the
norm, because the taboos which discourage them are
discredited (as "racist" for example), as this broadcast
implies they should, in 100 - 200 years time Britain's
native and immigrant populations will have merged into a
more-or-less homogenous population of mixed race and
hybrid culture.

If I myself were of
mixed race, or had children who were, perhaps
that is what I'd want, as a means of overcoming the
dominance of the native white population, but I'm not, so
I don't. Besides which, I love and want to retain racial
and cultural diversity. To this end, having removed the
geographical barriers, we need to cultivate (not vilify),
in a humane and civilised fashion, cultural
and political ones.

Such barriers
should not be impregnable, of course, but sufficient to
maintain diversity; nor should they be imposed, but
individuals free to decide for themselves. However,
individual communities must also be free to decide the
conditions of membership. If a community of black people
doesn't want any white members that is perfectly
legitimate, and visa versa. So if a black and white couple
wish to marry and both their communities reject them, they
will have to find another communitiy to live in. There is
no reason, however, why the rejection should be hostile or
total, but every reason why it should not be. The attitude
of their communities is not "racist", but necessary to
preserve their racial integrity and the racial diversity
of society at large. If you don't want these things
(perhaps because you mistakenly believe wanting them to be
"racist"), no one is forcing them on you; but please,
don't you try forcing others to join you on the road to
racial homogenization.